Quick Wine for Quick Meals

Filed in archive Food and Wine on August 11, 2006

When we first became interested in wine, like most people, we usually drank what we bought. It kind of was like living from pay check to pay check because there was never any extra wine. Not that we were slugging it back on a daily basis, but we would buy a few bottles for the weekend or a special celebration, drink them, and then buy more when we needed them.

The problem with this scenario, however, is that you may have an unexpected dinner to run off to or you may just decide to stay home and get crazy during a week night, but you have no wine to enjoy. As our wine tastes grew, we realized this meant we needed to start having a small stash of wine available. This is a lot like making sure your have some staple items in your kitchen like eggs, milk, and seasonings. A well stocked kitchen, just like a well stocked wine cellar or pantry, lets you enjoy a good meal without a ton of up front prep work.

This article from SheKnows.com has some other handy advice for quick meals, which of course include wine:

Stock the wine pantry, too -- Make it easy on yourself and keep several affordable bottles of both red and white wines in stock. It's easy to create a pantry of wine -- and you don't need a fancy cellar to do it. Simply find a spot away from heat and light, perhaps in a kitchen cabinet, to keep your favorites on hand. Keep these bottles under $15. Good versatile wines include Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese and Syrah.

Scout out the supermarket -- Supermarkets are good about offering options to help people get in and out of the kitchen in 30 minutes or less. Ask your local butcher for meat that's packaged in a marinade. Purchase prepackaged salads and chopped up vegetables. Keeping tips like these in mind will save you time.

Reheat and recork -- Go ahead and cook a little extra. Food not eaten will do fine in the refrigerator until the next day. Similarly, an opened bottle of wine is not a spoiled bottle. Recork the bottle and just like food, it will keep in the refrigerator for up to three to five days. Just reheat Monday night's meal later in the week, uncork that bottle of wine and you've got yourself another great meal in minutes.